Bitch Media - new york timeshttp://bitchmagazine.org/taxonomy/term/372/0
enWorking women have it rough, and other startling news from the New York Timeshttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/women-in-workplace
<p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3346/3523399086_186b53201b.jpg?v=0" /></p>
<p>Mickey Meece had a startling discovery in Saturday's <a href="">New York Times Business section</a>: Women are never going to break the glass ceiling if they don't stop their cat fighting!</p>
<p>The "pink elephant in the room" (gag me) of business is women bullying one another. The <a href="">Workplace Bullying Institute</a> reports that 40% of workplace bullying is done by women. I know what you're thinking, "Doesn't that mean men do most of the bullying?" But actually, "Male bullies [at least] take an egalitarian approach, mowing down men and women pretty much in equal measure." So, it's okay when they do it, and that doesn't warrant any kind of social analysis (or the front page of the Business section). </p>
<p>The article is mostly supported by personal anecdotes from women that sound like commonplace work issues, but in the context of the article, all focus the blame on other women, only adding to the notion that women should see other women as a threat to their career aspirations. </p>
<p>Because there is an Important Research Institute dedicated to workplace bullying, there have been some scientific explanations for this phenomenon, like how women target other women because "they can find a less confrontative person or someone less likely to respond to aggression with aggression." They also report that bullying stems from "frustration, personality traits, perceptions of unfair treatment, and an assortment of stresses and strains," leading Meece to entertain another hypothesis to why women might be compelled to bully one another: systemic oppression! How novel!</p>
<p>Meece ventures, "Is there a double standard at work?" As it turns out, women are expected to conform to society's expectations of them! And in the workplace, there is a delicate balance between being too feminine and too masculine!</p>
<p>Researchers from Canada came up with a solution: To "remind women that they are members of the same group." </p>
<p>Awkwardly tacked on to the end of the article is a bit about how high-tech company Televerde has outsourced work to female prisoners in Perryville, AZ. As it turns out (!) these incarcerated women work efficiently and don't bully one another at the call-centers. What larger contrast is there than inmates and CEOs?!</p>
<p>This article is so problematic it was hard to decide where to start. </p>
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<p><i>Thanks, Clementine!</i></p>
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/women-in-workplace#commentsbullyingcorporate workessentialismlabornew york timesprison industrial complexworkworkplace discriminationDigiBitchMon, 11 May 2009 20:14:26 +0000Kjerstin Johnson1591 at http://bitchmagazine.orgCourt confirms that feminism is not a religion and that Roy Den Hollander is a waste of its timehttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/court-confirms-that-feminism-is-not-a-religion-and-that-roy-den-hollander-is-a-waste-of-its-tim
<p> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3556/3485769319_484c3c19de_o.jpg" height="299" width="219" /></p>
<p> Remember Roy Den Hollander, the righteously antifeminst New York lawyer whose greatest hits of frivolous litigation include, "Ladies' Nights Are Unfair to Men," "The Violence Against Women Act is Unconstitutional to ME!," and "My Mail-Order Bride Left Me to Become a Stripper, I'm Gonna Sue the Club Where She Works"? Well, you'll be relieved to know that his most recent waste of a court's time and money — a <a href="/post/douchebag-lawyer-and-his-douchebag-lawsuit-feminism-violates-mens-rights" rel="nofollow">lawsuit against Columbia University</a> contending that their Women's Studies curriculum violates Title IX and was unconstituional — was given a <a href="http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/court-rejects-mens-studies-lawsuit/" rel="nofollow">big thumbs-down</a> last week.</p>
<p>In the suit, Den Hollander claimed that the field of Women's Studies "demonizes men and exalts women in order to justify discrimination against men based on collective guilt," and that Columbia was using government funds to preach a "religionist belief system called feminism." The April 23 decision by Manhattan Judge Lewis A. Kaplan contended that, in fact, "Feminism is no more a religion than physics…. And at least the core of the complaint therefore is frivolous." (I'd like to think he then added a firm, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i308sX3C3PA" rel="nofollow">Red Forman-esque</a> "Dumbass!" to his statement.)</p>
<p>Columbia itself had <a href="http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2009/04/20/judge-recommends-dismissing-hollander-s-case" rel="nofollow">filed a motion</a> back in October for the case to be dropped entirely, stating that Hollander's compaint "reads like a parody." Hollander responded by amply proving the university's point with the statement that "Women's studies [programs] aid and abet murder.... Where do you think all those lunatic female syndromes come from for excusing murdering incipient human beings, boiling babies, drowning their children, and killing their boyfriends or husbands?"</p>
<p>But as we know well by now, this dude is nothing if not obsessed with getting the last word. Stung by Kaplan's decision, Den Hollander accused the judge of being (horrors!) a feminist, and pouted that "The only thing frivolous and absurd is men looking for justice in the courts of America." In that case, RDH, perhaps you should, I don't know, <i>stop filing boneheaded lawsuits</i>? </p>
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/court-confirms-that-feminism-is-not-a-religion-and-that-roy-den-hollander-is-a-waste-of-its-tim#commentsColumbia Universitydouchebagsfrivolous lawsuitsnew york timesRoy Den Hollanderzero-sum shenanigansLove / ShoveWed, 29 Apr 2009 16:38:54 +0000Andi Zeisler1514 at http://bitchmagazine.orgTaking Gender Discrimination to the Cleanershttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/taking-gender-discrimination-to-the-cleaners
<p>Sure, this New York Times story about <a href rel="nofollow">gender discrepancy in men's and women's dry cleaning prices</a> may seem a little frivolous (especially considering that most of us can't pay $8.75 to get our shirts cleaned), but props are still in order. Another blow struck in the name of gender equality!</p>
<p>The story (for those of you who don't feel like reading the whole thing) focuses on Janet Floyd, a 44-year old New Yorker who noticed that she was paying more to have her shirts laundered than her husband was paying for comparable garments (even though his shirts are larger). Turns out, this is a fairly common practice among cleaners, because most of their machines were made for men's shirts. A pretty lame excuse, if you ask me.</p>
<p>So good job to you, Janet Floyd, for standing up for yourself and for women everywhere who shouldn't have to pay extra to have their shirts cleaned. Keep up the good work!</p>
<p>Does anyone else have a similar story to share?</p>
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/taking-gender-discrimination-to-the-cleaners#commentsdry cleaninggender equitynew york timesLove / ShoveThu, 05 Feb 2009 20:37:42 +0000Kelsey Wallace1182 at http://bitchmagazine.orgReader Shock: Anecdotes Are Not Trendshttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/reader-shock-anecdotes-are-not-trends
<p>The <i>New York Times</i> is at it again, publishing yet another random collection of anecdotes masquerading as a bold new trend. With today's doozy, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/garden/14kids.html" rel="nofollow">&quot;Parent Shock: Children Are Not Decor,&quot;</a> the paper of record continues to perfect the art of taking a nominally interesting subject -- in this case, the struggle to keep one's multifaceted identity from being completely subsumed into the role of parent -- and turning it into a trend piece on affluent New Yorkers, and then not-so-subtly encouraging us to sneer at the foibles of these overprivileged Americans. At least this time around it isn't just the upper-middle-class moms who take a beating; dads are impugned too -- gay dads, even. Yup, the wheel of progress just keeps a-turning.</p>
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/reader-shock-anecdotes-are-not-trends#commentsclass wardesignnew york timesRaising HellFri, 15 Feb 2008 01:06:45 +0000Rachel Fudge267 at http://bitchmagazine.org